Hair clips



\ June 2, 1970 SUKEYOSHI SANADA 3,515,153

HAIR CLIPS Filed Jan. 18. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV ENT OR SUAEYOSH/ SANHDH BY I ATTORNEYS June 2, 1970 SUKEYOSHI SANADA 3,515,153

HAIR CLIPS Filed Jan. 18, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR SUKEYOSH/ San/non ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office Patented June 2, 1970 3,515,153 HAIR CLIPS Sukeyoshi Sanada, l-chome, Shimomae, Toda-shi, Saitama-ken, Japan Filed Jan. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 698,900 Claims priority, application Japan, Jan. 20, 1967, 42/ 3,998 Int. Cl. A45d 8/24 US. Cl. 132-48 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The diverging leaves of an R-shaped leaf spring are fastened to the diverging ends to be gripped of a pair of hair clip plates with the front curved surface of the R- shaped spring seated on a complementary arcuate support surface extending transversely of one of the plates.

The present invention relates to hair clips. The hair clips according to the present invention comprise a new and simple combination of elements and can be prepared in simple manner and with minimum costs. Moreover, the hair clips according to the present invention can offer excellent results to users. Since hair clips belong to articles for home consumption, they must be supplied at low costs and with satisfactory results for users. When used, hair clips should possess well balanced clipping power and must not move or slide in a lateral direction.

For the purpose of better understanding the present invention, hair clips of the known types can be exemplified by the following classes:

(A) Hair clips occupying most widely the free market have in common the following characteristics:

The hair clip comprises an upper plate, a lower plate, a pin or axle and a coil spring Wound around the said axle. The upper and lower plates are respectively provided with a clip portion, a holder portion and two bent ears or hinges acting as supports. The bent ears or hinges are respectively positioned inwardly and oppositely on the both sides between the clip portion and holder portion, and each ear is provided with a hole or pivot bearing so as to support said pin or axle. As a result, the upper plate is pivotally connected with the lower plate. The ends of the coil spring press respectively the insides of the upper and lower plates in such a manner that the coil spring will effect a clipping power on the clip portion.

The defects of the hair clip of this type are for example as follows:

It is hazardous to assemble the hair clip of this type due to the fact that the upper plate, lower plate and pin or axle, around which the coil spring has been attached previously, must be connected together by introducing the pin or axle through the holes, which are located at the bent ears or hinges of both plates. Such assembly work requires skilled labour by hand whose productivity is poor. Hair clips of this type can hardly be produced on a large scale mechanically, resulting in complicated hand works and high cost requirements. Moreover, from the point of view of consumers demand, hair clips of this type have additional disadvantages in that the coil spring is liable to slide to undersired positions around the axle thereby to give an unbalance of clipping power on different points of both plates. Horizontal vibration is also unavoidable.

(B) In view of overcoming assemble difiiculties, the following type has been proposed:

The hair clip comprises an upper plate, a lower plate and a V-shaped leaf spring. The upper plate is provided with a clip portion, a holder portion and two bent ears or pivot bearings. Said bent ears or pivot bearings are positioned respectively inwardly and oppositely between the clip portion and holder portion, and are respectively provided with an inward projection, which supports the V-shaped leaf spring. The lower plate is also provided with a clip portion, a holder portion and two bent ears similarly with the exception that the bent ears of the lower plate are provided with a hole, respectively. Said hole cooperates with the said projection so as to connect the upper and lower plates with each other. Both ends of the V-shaped leaf spring are latched at the noses of the projections respectively.

Hair clips of this type may indeed be more or less free from the assemblying troubles caused by the pin connection and coil spring, but the following defects are known:

The connection of the upper and lower plates with each other is liable to be out of joint owing to the high tension of the leaf spring unless said inward projections are treated with great care. Moreover, the leaf spring itself is also liable to run off owing to the high tension of the leaf spring itself when the clipping portions fully open to clip hairs in case the leaf spring is insufiiciently supported.

(C) Another hair clip proposed for the purpose of overcoming the assemblying difficulties is characterized by the following:

The hair clip comprises an upper plate and a lower plate. The upper plate has a bent portion having a bowlike form (bow portion), a support portion formed by cutting, which is projected toward the upper and front direction, a long hole formed by boring work, which is positioned in the said bent portion (bow portion), and a fitting hole formed by grinding nearby the said bent portion. The lower plate is provided with a bent portion, a bent leaf spring and a fitting pierce formed by cutting work on said bent portion. Said fitting pierce fits with a fitting hole of the upper plate. Said leaf spring has a front end, which is introduced into said long hole of the upper plate in such a manner that said front end is affixed onto the front part of said support portion of the upper plate by press work.

This type of hair clip has the following disadvantages:

Its preparation costs may amount to several times as much as those of the other various hair clips of the known types due to complex construction requiring hazardous formation procedures.

Moreover, there is admitted a requirement for the use of highly elastic materials, which also cause to increasing production costs. With regard to consumers viewpoints, its clipping power may be weaker than those of various other conventional hair clips, and its plates are also incapable of overcoming the horizontal vibration or movement.

(D) Further, the hair clip having the following characters has been proposed to overcome the assembly difficulties:

The hair clip is made of a solid plate, which comprises a pair of forked clip portions, a pair of leaf springs and a grooved bridge portion. The clip portions have respectively a holder portion, a support portion or base, and a notched portion. The leaf springs are respectively positioned at each side of the support portions and are formed by bending so as to connect the pair of the forked clip portions with each other thereby toform a solid body. The bridge portion is formed in such a manner that the fork ends of one of the forked clip portions is connected with the bridge portion thereby to form a solid body.

Hair clips of this type require a considerable number of preparation steps, and furthermore has the following disadvantages:

Its preparation costs may amount to several times as much as those of other various conventional hair clips due to its complex construction. Additionally, elastic materials required may result in increasingcosts. Its clipping power is weaker than those of conventional types such as the type (A) beside the vibration troubles. Angle of the opening of the clip portion and the fatigue allowance are smaller than those of conventional types.

(E) Further proposals made to overcome the assembly difficulties has provided the hair clip having the following characters:

A metal plate is bent at its central position to make a contact of both bent ends with each other in such a manner that a support portion is formed at the central position elastically, wherein the bent portions are respectively bent outwardly in respect of the support portion. Then the bent portions are respectively bent nearby the support portion toward the support portion in such a manner that said bent portions are elastically contacted with each other. The bent portions are further bent outwardly respectively in such a manner that said bent portions would contact with said support portions thereby to make a contact of said bent ends with each other.

As to the metal plate which may be used for this purpose, such elastic materials as e.g. stainless steels are preferably used in view of achieving a simpler construction, good results and cheaper preparation costs. However, a hair clip of this type has the similar disadvantages as those described in (D). Moreover, only about of the full opening of the clip portion can be used for clipping hair.

It may benoted that almost all hair clips, with which the market has been largely occupied, are those of type (A) described above.

In view of achieving a new hair clip comprising an unique and creative combination of elements and capable of overcoming various difliculties described above, I have now reached to a discovery of the hair clip according to the present invention.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a hair clip, which can be produced with cheaper costs and Without various troubles such as the assembly troubles and which can be used with excellent results. Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent upon reading the undergoing specification and claims.

The hair clip according to the present invention is based on the following principles:

(1) It is necessary to use a most suitable material for a specific purpose. -In other words, it is not desirable to use the same material for different purposes.

(2) In view of saving preparation costs and avoiding the assembly troubles, it is desirable to avoid the use of extraordinary material for the clip means (eg spring steel).

(3) In view of eliminating the assembly troubles, it is desirable to use other spring means than the helical spring.

(4) To employ such elastic materials as stainless steel is not desired because of its higher costs and difiiculties of processing.

According to the present invention, there is provided a hair clip comprising an upper plate, a lower plate and an R-shaped leaf spring means, which gives to the upper and lower plate the clipping power.

The upper plate has a holder portion or shorter pierce, a clip portion or longer pierce and a support portion or pivot bearing. The holder portion is bent outwordly in respect of the clip portion and is provided with a fixing means for the R-shaped leaf spring. The support portion or pivot bearing is positioned between the holder portion (shorter pierce) and clip portion (longer pierce) and is formed to an inward arc, which corresponds to the shape of the top of the R-shaped leaf spring.

The lower plate includes a clip portion and a holder portion, which is provided with a fixing means for the R-shaped spring means.

The R-shaped leaf spring has an upper leaf, a lower leaf and a top portion, and is positioned at the interior angle, which is formed with the upper and lower plates. Each end of the upper or lower leaf is supported with the fixing means of either the upper or lower plate. The top portion or are of the R-shaped leaf spring has a shape like an R-character, i.e. an inward arc, which projects outwardly from the inner end of the upper leaf. The arc of the top of the R-shaped spring and that of the support portion of the upper plate are fitted with each other at least partly and continuously so as to coact as a pivot bearing thereby to transfer the clipping power to the upper and lower plates.

Since the leaf spring is fixed to both upper plate and lower plate by independent fixing means respectively, it is therefore unnecessary to determine strictly the conditions for fitting the top portion of the R-shaped leaf spring with both supporting portions. It is unnecessary to give to the supporting portions an angle of the circumference of more than about 180 so as to be capable of embracing the top of the leaf spring. With regard to the shape of the fitting arrangement, it is sufficient to give a form capable of transferring the clipping powers to the upper and lower plates and protecting the out of joint of the leaf spring when the clipping portions open at the full angle.

It is therefore possible to select the angle of the circumrference of the topportion of the R-shaped leaf spring within a very wide range such as e.g. about ZOO-300, while it is preferred to select the angle of the circumference of the supporting portion within a range of about -120".

With reference to the accompanying drawings representing examples of suitable devices according to the present invention, the present invention will be clearly and fully explained in the following:

With reference to accompanying drawings, FIG. 1' is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the hair clip of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the hair clip of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the hair clip of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line A-A' of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another preferred embodiment of the hair clip of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the hair clip of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a modified form of the hair clip, FIG. 8 is a bottom view of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the hair clip of FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view taken on line BB of FIG. 7.

An embodiment of the hair clip according to the present invention comprises an upper plate A, a lower plate B and an R-shaped leaf spring C. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper plate A has a clip or compress portion 1, a holder portion 2 and a support portion or pivot bearing 3. Holder portion 2 and support portion 3 extend from the clip portion 1 and are bent outwardly with an angle of about 20-30". An ear or stopper 4, which is positioned adjacent the outer end of the holder 2, and a bridge 5, which is provided between the support portion 3 and the ear 4, coact to support the upper end portion of the upper leaf of the leaf spring C. The support portion is positioned between the clip portion and the holder portion to serve as a pivot bearing for the upper plate, and has an inward arc having an angle of about -180", which shape corresponds substantially to that of the top portion 6 of the leaf spring C.

The lower plate B is substantially flat and has a clip portion 7 and holder portion 8, where a fixing means for the R-shaped leaf spring is proyided in a similar manner to that of the upper plate. An ear or stopper 9 positioned adjacent the end of outer holder portion 8 and a bridge 10 positioned between the top portion 6 of the leaf spring C and the ear 9 coact to fix the leaf spring C to the lower plate B. In such a manner, the upper plate A, lower plate B, and R-shaped leaf spring C are connected together for coaction.

In another embodiment of the hair clip according to the present invention (FIGS. and 6), in place of the bridge or stopper 5, which is positioned adjacent the holder portion of the upper plate A, and the bridge or stopper 10 positioned adjacent the holder portion of the lower plate B, a pair of bent lugs or sleeves 11' and 11" are provided at the both sides of the holder portions of the upper and lower plates respectively for fixing the respective leaves of the leaf spring to the plates. The sleeves are preferrably formed by extending the breadth of each holder portion of the upper and lower plate in a transverse direction, and bending the extension to form respective sleeves.

With regard to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is preferred to determine the free angle of the leaf spring to be about 2-3 times larger than that formed with the holder portions 2 and 8 of the upper and lower plates. The width of the leaf spring C is preferably determined so as to achieve a well-balanced clipping power between the clip portions 1 and 7.

The top curved portion 6 of the R-shaped leaf spring C has preferrably an angle of circumference of about 200-250". Owing to the fitting of the top portion 6 of the leaf spring C with the inside of the support portion 3, there is formed a pivot connection whereby the clippin power can be distributed equally to all areas of the clip portions 1 and 7 and any horizontal vibration of the clip portions 1 and 7 can be eliminated. Moreover, the leaf spring C itself does not tend to slip out of the support portion 3 even when the hair clip opens at its full angle.

Various outstanding features of the hair clip according to the present invention are apparent from the above description.

Moreover, the clip plates and leaf spring are separately prepared, and therefore the clip plates can be made of a suitable ordinary metal, which can be easily formed, while the elastic metal, which is expensive and has forming difficulties, can be used for the leaf spring only.

Assembly of the hair clips according to the present invention is extremely simple when compared with those of the conventional hair clips, and requires no skilled workers. It is enough to fix first the lower leaf of the R-shaped leaf spring with the fixing means of the lower plate, and then press on the upper leaf of the leaf spring with the under side of the upper plate so as to lessen the open angle of the leaf spring, and then slip the upper leaf into the fixing means of the upper plate in such a manner that the top portion or the arc of the leaf spring will be inserted into the arc of the support portion of the upper plate.

The hair clip according to the present invention can be prepared with cheaper costs, and mechanically, and even automatically due to its simpler construction. It is found that hair clips having the R-shaped leaf spring according to the present invention are far superior to those having a V- or U-shaped leaf spring with regard to their fatigue allowance and operational functions beside the elimination of the slipping out of joint of the spring means.

With respect to the ease of carrying out the production on large scale mechanically, FIGS. 710 it is possible to make an opening 13 at the support portion or pivot bearing 3 of the upper plate in parallel to the axis of the arc of the R-shaped spring. The top portion of the R- shaped leaf spring is partly introduced into said opening 13 thereby to prevent the run out of the R-shaped spring from its ordinary position.

As shown, the arc of the top of the R-shaped leaf spring is bridged on the outside of the upper plate A so as to substantially inscribe the arcuate support portion 3 of the upper plate. The front leaf of the R-shaped leaf spring is passed between the legs of the bifurcated upper plate A, which extends outwardly from the edge 12 of the support portion 3, and through a slit 13 formed in the upper plate A and is supported tightly at its end by the bent ear 4. The slit 13 is located at the turning point of the support portion 3 and the front leaf of the R-shaped leaf spring.

I claim:

1. A hair clip, comprising: an upper plate having a clip portion at one end thereof, a holder portion at the other end thereof and a support portion disposed between the end portions; a lower plate having a clip portion at one end thereof and a holder portion at the other end thereof; the holder portion of the upper plate diverging outwardly with respect to the lower plate from said support portion toward the free end thereof, the surface of the support portion being arcuate in configuration and extending transversely of the upper plate; a generally R- shaped leaf spring positioned between the upper and lower plates with the back leaf of the R-shaped spring contiguous with the inner surface of the holder portion of the lower plate, with the front leaf of the R-shaped spring contiguous with the inner surface of the upper plate and with the top and front curved portion of the R-shaped spring having an arcuate surface complementary to the arcuate surface of the support portion and being seated thereon, and means fastening the holder portion of the upper and lower plates to the front and back leaves respectively of the R-shaped spring.

2. A hair clip according to claim 1 in which the fastening means comprises: an ear rigid with and projecting from the inner surface of the holder portion of the upper plate and of said lower plate, said ears each having a portion thereof abutting the respective end of the R-shaped spring.

3. A hair clip according to claim 2 in which said ears are L-shaped in transverse cross section and each includes a further portion spaced from and disposed parallel to the inner surface of the corresponding holder portion embracing and confining the respective end of the R-shaped spring between.

4. A hair clip according to claim 2 in which the fastening means further comprises a bridge portion rigid with the inner surface of the holder portion of the upper plate and of the lower plate, said bridge portions each being disposed "between the ears and the support portion and extending parallel with and spaced from the inner surface of the corresponding holder portion confining the respective leaf of the vR-shaped spring therebetween.

5. A hair clip according to claim 1 in which the angle of circumference of the arcuate supporting portion of the upper plate is substantially -180.

6. A hair clip according to claim 1 in which the angle of circumference of the arcuate surface of the R-shaped spring is substantially 1S0-250.

7. A hair clip according to claim 1 in which the arcuate surface of the R-shaped spring is seated on the inner surface of the arcuate support portion of the upper plate.

8. A hair clip according to claim 1 in which an opening is formed in the upper plate adjacent the support portion and parallel to the axis of the arcuate surface of the R-shaped spring, the top portion of the R-shaped spring extending through said opening and the arcuate surface of the R-shaped spring being seated on the outer surface of the arcuate support portion of the upper plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,838,056 6/1958 Kertesz 132-48 2,887,110 5/1959 Roeschmann 128-321 3,362,052 1/1968 Uchida 24-253 ANTONIO F. GURIDA, Primary Examiner G. S. McNEILL, Assistant Examiner 

